At TK, we’ve had an amazing semester with all kinds of reading and literacy events.

In the months of October and November, our grades 2 to 6 students took part in the Global ReadAloud, reading the same books with millions of other students worldwide.

While reading Mem Fox picture books, our grade 2 students, partnered up Hong Kong Academy and were very lucky to have their teacher librarian, Ms Tanja as a mystery reader at our school during her vacation. We exchanged thoughts, feelings and ideas about our reading through padlets and then skyped with her grade 2 classes. Grade 3 students read “Fenway and Hattie”, and grades 4 and 5 read “Wild Robot” and exchanged postcards with 60 other schools around the world. Some of our students had never written a postcard before or even licked a stamp so it was a great experience! Grade 6 classes read “A Long Walk to Water” and had some very serious conversations about water rights, war and migration. This initiative saw all our classes discovering new books and authors related their themes.

In early November, the whole school stepped outside for buddy reading in the garden. Across the whole week, our display was “don’t judge a book by its colour”. Students could borrow a picture book in their house colour. School was a colourful place that week as students gathered with their house colour friends to read lots and lots of blue, red, green or yellow covered books. Many students discovered books they’d never seen before, and our younger students really appreciated reading with their older peers.

Across the course of UN week we had parents, grandparents, teachers and students reading in the library. We listened to stories in Maltese, French, Dutch, Hindi and Chinese, showing the power of stories - in any language.

On Monday, 13 November, our grade 6 students’ wish came true with a visit from young author Gabby Tye. Gabby has a new book out, Ever, a sequel to her popular Run-Hide-Seek series. She told our students about how she started writing her first book at 11 years of age - an activity that was initially designed to get more time on the computer. Back in those days, Gabby had set herself a goal of writing 300 words a day. Her book was finally published when she turned 14, and it became a Singapore bestseller. She talked about the importance of writing about the things you know and things you’re passionate about, the importance of persistence, and how a good author gathers inspiration from being well read.

But the semester isn’t over yet, and the library is still a busy and active place. Just this week we have received hundreds of new books that will continue to engage, enlighten and empower each and every one of our readers - from our youngest children to our oldest. Parents are reminded that they’re always welcome in the library to browse, borrow and read to their children. Parents are also encouraged to come to our regular Library Bytes sessions to learn more about literacy, reading and research.